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At first glance, this park may just seem to be another nicely done park. But actually, this amazing garden is sunken because it was an old lime stone quarry before. Huntington, nicknamed the Lime City, has been supplying high grade lime stone to all over the Midwest including Indiana, Ohio and Michigan. This ex-lime stone quarry was adaptive-reused to be a garden sunken in the ground between 1923 and 1928. I am surprised to find out that people a hundred years ago were already converting ex-quarry into something productive and trying to restore the environment.

From the perspective of historic preservation, the making of this park has done a great job since a lot of the existing features were retained. For example, the park adapts to the existing geometry and remains sunken in the ground; the old tunnel leading to the quarry is retained as one of the entrances; the mine “holes” have become fishponds; the old stones are reused to build stairs, bridges, and retaining wall all around the park. Extra points are given to the delicate wood pavilion constructed as it provides shelter for the many weddings and social gatherings taking place at the park. Visit is highly recommended!